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Newsdesk 2006
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RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 223 13 August 2006
Editor: Steve Rowland
mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com
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HEADLINE NEWS
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* Four M75 world records in a week for Ed Whitlock
* County 5km title for Jo Ronaldson; W35 and M50 category wins for Jo and
Chris Owens
* Women's team wins gold medals, men's silver.
* Ranelagh Road Grand Prix wins for Trevor Maguire, Chris Owens, Marie
Synnott-Wells and Julie Naismith
* Runner-up spots for our men's and women's teams in the Surrey Road League
* Individual Surrey Road League W35 title for Marie Synnott-Wells
* Cabbage Patch 10 nearly full
* Bushy Park Time Trial reaches number 100, and the finishers top 200
SEE HERE
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CABBAGE PATCH 10 - URGENT!!
The ever-popular Cabbage Patch 10 miles road race on Sunday 15th October
looks set to reach its entry limit well in advance of the day - indeed,
probably within the next week or two. At the time of writing, 1196 of the
available 1500 places have already been snapped up. So if you're planning to
run, get your entry in now! Details:
http://www.cabbagepatch10.com/ Scripts/default.asp.
E-NEWS #222
I experienced problems sending out e-news number 222. I tried three times
altogether, but each time there were many delivery failures for no apparent
reason. The result was that some of you received three copies while others
received none. Apologies either way! If you missed it and can't possibly
live without it, you can find it on our website here:
http://www.ranelagh-harriers.com/enews/222.html.
MABAC LEAGUE
The next MABAC event is a 10km Pairs Relay on Sunday 20th August at 11am, at
Downsend School, Leatherhead. The event comprises ten laps of a fast
grassland 1km and the two-person teams run alternate laps - so for each
person it's a 5 x 1km session! Entry is free, you just turn up on the day.
If you don't have a partner, you can pair up with somebody on the day. After
the race there is a free picnic: salads etc are all provided, but bring your
own meat if you want a barbecue. Here's a map of the venue:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=517610&y=156975&z=3&sv=517610,156975
&st=4&ar=Y&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf.
RANELAGH 125th ANNIVERSARY DINNER Friday 29th September at York House
Tickets for our 125th anniversary dinner are available from Marina Quayle at
the clubhouse or at 101 Sheen Road, Richmond TW9 1YJ.
The price per head is £45 (payable to Ranelagh Harriers) and includes a
three course dinner and wine, followed by guest speakers. Contact Marina for
more info: mailto:marina_quayle@hotmail.com. Please specify if you will
require a vegetarian meal. Black tie or lounge suits.
GOOD RUN GUIDE
Louise Piears writes:
"Can you help us out by suggesting scenic training routes, either locally or
anywhere in the U.K.? We have now added an easy way to suggest routes (no
GPS required) using our map plotting tool. Complimentary membership will be
given to anyone who can help - please e-mail Andy Bickerstaff at
andy@norris-hobs.co.uk or Louise Piears at louise.piears@btinternet.com and
we will sort this out. Membership now includes full access to our route
planner and a personal interactive log book. See
http://www.goodrunguide.co.uk/index.asp".
RANELAGH ROAD GRAND PRIX
The Belgrave 5km on Sunday was the final race in our 2006 Road GP. Trevor
Maguire did not run but he did not need to: his leads in both the Open and
M40 sections were unassailable. Paul Doyle jumped up to second place in the
Open category, pushing Nathan Mills down to third. Chris Owens and Alan
Davidson went head to head for the M50 title with Chris not surprisingly
coming out on top. Marie Synnott-Wells also secured a "double" in the
Women's and W40 sections. Second in the former was Mandy Westlake, a fine
performance in her first season. Julie Naismith remained clear in the W50s.
Leading positions are shown below. The full scoreboard can be seen on our
website (http://www.ranelagh-harriers.com/gp.html). 122 Ranelagh Harriers
completed at least one of the nine races.
Open Trevor Maguire 58, Paul Doyle 45, Nathan Mills 44, Steve Whitehead
39, Phil Killingley 36, Duncan Bell 32, Mick Lane 32
M40 Trevor Maguire 35, Mick Lane 18, Marcus Gohar 17, Chris Read 14,
Peter Wright 13, Simon Burrell 12
M50 Chris Owens 23, Alan Davidson 21, Alan Craig 15, Tim Woods 15,
John Hanscomb 13, Tom Reay 12
Women Marie Synnott-Wells 27, Mandy Westlake 21, Jo Ronaldson 18,
Kerrie O'Connor 16, Liz Kipling 15, Karen Broadbent 11
W40 Marie Synnott-Wells 30, Deborah Blakemore 24, Michele Gibson 20, Jo
Turner 10, Lynne Barber 8, Gill Wilson 7
W50 Julie Naismith 17, Janet Turnes 15, Sonia Rowland 12, Corinne
Bishop 11, Beverley Ali 7, Jane Wyatt 6
SURREY ROAD LEAGUE
This competition was also decided at the Belgrave 5km. As expected,
Stragglers secured the men's league title, but it was a very close thing in
the women's section. In the end we were just pipped at the post by
Stragglers, giving them a double victory and ourselves a brace of second
places. We did have one winner, though: Marie Synnott-Wells won the
individual W35 category.
A NEW FOOTPATH FOR THE PARK?
The Royal Parks authorities are proposing to extend the "Tamsin Trail",
which is the hard-surfaced bicycle/pedestrian path that circumnavigates the
Park. The new section would link Petersham Gate, opposite our clubhouse,
with the exisiting path at Ham Crossroads.
RACE THE TRAIN
Duncan Bell writes:
"Andy B and I are thinking of entering a race called Race the Train on 19th
August. It is a 14.75 miles race, multi-terrain, and takes place in North
Wales in a place called Talyllyn. We are hoping to enter a team of three in
the competition which I feel we may well stand a decent chance of winning.
It is a good race and a nice weekend with all-day activities for the family,
some smaller fun runs and evening entertainment. I intend to take my family
and a tent as there is a good campsite adjacent to the start/finish point
used by a lot of other runners. Alternatively by going to the website it is
possible to find some nice B&Bs for the less hardy. All in all a great
weekend and race for the family. Anyone else wishing to join should go to
the website for more info (http://www.racethetrain.com/)".
A RUNNING HOLIDAY IN FRANCE?
We have received the following from David and Jennie Jackson:
"We are keen runners, members of Epsom Oddballs, and are currently living
St.Thibery near Pezenas in the Languedoc area of South West France, where we
operate an accommodation/B&B business. To get to the point, we know from our
experience that runners are always looking for different areas where they
can come, participate in events and generally have a relaxing break
somewhere different, easily accessible and not too far from home. Would this
be of interest to your members? There are numerous races all year round, one
in particular that we are thinking of is 'Les Foulees Piscenoises' a 10K
race through the vineyards that starts in nearby Pezenas. This year it is on
Sunday 19th November, starting at 10.00 am. As well as accommodation we can
give assistance on entries, travel etc. If you or your club members are
interested in finding out more about what the area has to offer, details
about other events in the area, please contact us. As you can see we are
keen to market our business towards runners/walkers and the like and to that
end we will offer discounted rates to runners and even better deals to
groups of 12 or more. We can be contacted either by phone or email; these
and other details of local events can be found on our web site
www.stthibery.com.
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WHAT'S COMING...
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More details of the following from
Andy Bickerstaff ( mailto: andy@norris-hobs.co.uk ) or
Phil Aiken (07739 035189 / mailto: phil.aiken@rnid.org.uk ) or
Anna McLaughlin (07971 606521 / mailto: anna.mclaughlin@talk21.com ).
Saturday 19th August Race the Train 14.75 miles in Talyllyn, North Wales.
See above.
Sunday 20th August MABAC Pairs Relay at Downsend School, Leatherhead.
See above.
Saturday 2nd September Thomas Cup 3.8 miles Handicap in Richmond Park.
Preceded by the annual club photograph and followed by the first celebration
of our 125th birthday: a party with music in a marquee at the Dysart. All
members are welcome.
Saturday 9th September Surrey County Road Relay Championships at Wimbledon
Park. Separate events for men and women, and veterans.
Saturday 23rd September Southern Road Relay Championships at Rushmoor
Arena, Aldershot (senior men, including vets' races)
Sunday 24th September Southern Road Relay Championships at Rushmoor Arena,
Aldershot (juniors and women)
Every Saturday Bushy Park Time Trial. 9am start at the Diana
Fountain car park. See www.bptt.net for details.
WHAT'S HAPPENED...
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BELGRAVE 5km including Surrey County Championship Sunday 13th August at
Wimbledon
Sunday dawned cool and wet, which came as a blessed relief to many after the
oppressive temperatures that have attended most of this summer's road races.
Mark Middleton certainly revelled in the conditions and confirmed his recent
form with a great performance to finish ahead of Paul Doyle for the first
time. On the hilly Wimbledon circuit they were both a few seconds outside 16
minutes in 11th and 12th places. Duncan Bell was half a minute back in 17th
and Steve Whitehead led another six RH home inside 18 minutes. Amongst them
was Chris Owens, who took first place in the over 50s category, and Jo
Ronaldson.
Jo's 17.47 gave her second place in the women's race, but the winner, Abel
of Highgate, is not Surrey qualified, so Jo adds another Surrey title to her
collection. For good measure she was also the leading over 35. Second in
both the county championship and the over 35 category was Marie
Synnott-Wells, still showing good speed despite being well into marathon
training (while the rest of us were waiting for the presentations, Marie was
doing another hour's spin round Wimbledon Common!).
In the county team events our women won gold and our men silver.
WORLD RECORDS
Ed Whitlock has now passed his 75th birthday and a whole new set of world
records open themselves up for his attention. He has wasted no time in
slaughtering the first few! Ed writes:
"Just completed a good week on the track. M75 world records of 19:07.02 and
39:25.16 for 5000m and 10000m at the Canadian Masters Championships on the
weekend of 22nd July. Then another WR of 11:10.45 in the 3000m at an
allcomers meet on July 25th. Finally on the 28th in a Masters 60+ mile race,
a final WR for the week, 5:41.80.
I did them all in my favourite Ranelagh singlet. The one I have is
particularly good here at this time of year as it is so light and airy in
the heat, 36 degrees today. My knees are a bit sore after all that strange
track running. I hope they settle down so that I can get in my marathon
training for the 24th September".
RATCHFORD RELAY Tuesday 25th July in Richmond Park
As reported in the last e-news, the winners of the Ratchford Relay this year
were Jo Turner, Anna Sykes-Brown and May Nadir. Fourteen teams took part and
it was a very competitive race. Clare King and Rachel Rowan were well clear
on the first circuit with Jo Turner back in 4th place, but Jo's team's
secret weapon turned out to be Anna who ran two very nifty stages to set up
a victory by almost a minute. Anair Beverly's team was also well clear of
the pack in second place but the next six teams all finished within a
minute. Fastest time of the day came from Clare King, who ran 3.22 on her
third lap to bring her team home in 4th place, though Rachel Rowan's last
lap was only two seconds slower. Special mention for Sarah Smith, who ran
three laps each just outside five minutes despite her "passenger"!
1 Joanne Turner 4.08 4.17 4.25
Anna Sykes-Brown 3.55 4.01
May Nadir 5.36 26.22
2 Claire Watters 4.26 4.43
Anair Beverly 4.06 4.03 4.06
Fetiha 5.52 27.16
3 Laurel Jones 4.15 4.21 4.19
Clodagh Fahy 5.37 4.47
Carol Barnshaw 5.06 28.25
4 Clare King 3.28 3.31 3.22
Celia Beverly 5.58
Judith Glebe 6.06 6.30 28.55
5 Sonia Rowland 4.21 4.23 4.18
Jennie Setchell 4.36 4.37
Angela Smith 6.40 28.59
6 Rachel Rowan 3.32 3.39 3.24
Lynne Barber 5.21 5.23
Aileen Woodley 7.30 29.13
7 Sandra Foot 4.08 4.11 4.10
Anneka White 5.59
Deborah Blakemore 5.27 5.20 29.15
8 Marion Rayner 4.19 4.21 4.08
Cindy Croucher 5.47 5.47
Mary Nash 4.56 29.18
9 Karen Broadbent 4.23 4.35 4.22
Jane Wyatt 5.19 5.35
Di Wilson 5.41 29.55
10 Sarah Smith 5.08 5.15 5.06
Anne Baker 4.53 5.02
Monica Ayliffe 5.22 30.44
11 Julie Drummond 5.20 5.41
Emma Matthew 4.27 4.28 4.21
Marie O'Donohue 6.48 31.05
12 Lucy Pennycook 4.45 4.52 4.45
Bev Walsh 5.33 5.43
Penny Merritt 5.52 31.45
13 Eleonora Gavin 4.22 4.38 4.46
Christine Goodsell 5.59
Zoë Sykes-Brown 5.23 6.36 31.54
14 Dympna Cunningham 4.16 4.20 4.22
Bev Ali 6.08 6.17
Christine Symes 6.38 32.11
BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 5th August
In BPTT number 99, the 200 runners barrier was breached at last - and we
progressed a third of the way on to 300! There were lots of PBs amongst the
233 finishers, including huge improvements of 2.31 and 1.13 from Alina
Mingham and Kerrie O'Connor. Andrew Forth beat 18 minutes for the first time
and Phil Aiken and Chris Hunton cracked 20 minutes. Mandy Westlake
progressed down to 20.34 and won one of the special BPTT coloured T-shirts
for the month's biggest improvers.
1 K Quinn (Real Runners) 15.28
17 Andrew Forth 17.57
33 Chris Read 19.04
39 Chris Camacho 19.21
51 Phil Aiken 19.56
52 Chris Hunton 19.59
63 Mandy Westlake 20.34
85 Kerrie O'Connor 21.42
100 Ray Smith 22.33
115 Alina Mingham 23.10
117 Edward Smith 23.18
161 Gill Wilson 25.13
162 Julie Naismith 25.20
180 Wally Garrod 26.35
210 John Hanscomb 28.15
BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 12th August
Another field of well over 200 celebrated both the BPTT's 100th edition and
organiser Paul Sinton-Hewitt's birthday. Here are Paul's own comments on the
BPTT web site:
"Well what could you expect from the 100th running of this event? Certainly
if the record is anything to go by - sunshine! But NO, it wasn't to be. A
cold and drizzly sombre day as we celebrated three things - the 100th event,
my birthday and the lengthening of the course.
Thanks to the consummate professional, Hugh Jones, we had our course
measured and it was found wanting. Wanting about 30 yards that is. I must
apologise to everyone that we were a bit short. Mind you, you'd never have
said so going by the running times. Be that as it may, it was a fitting
occasion to introduce the new course. Everyone will remember that it changed
on the 100th event.
Today's race got off to a rendition of 'Happy Birthday' in honour of my
birthday. I can just see all of you who missed it saying how pleased you
were not to have experienced such trauma".
Hugh Brasher led the Ranelagh contingent and there were personal bests for
Paul Murphy and Paul Bisping.
1 R Ward (Belgrave) 16.00
12 Hugh Brasher 17.53
20 Paul Murphy 18.40
65 Chris Wright 21.07
79 Paul Bisping 21.25
90 Adam Wright 21.56
99 Ray Smith 22.28
104 Joanne Turner 22.39
109 Abigail Lyons 22.58
117 Edward Smith 23.29
136 Gill Wilson 24.33
153 Kerrie O'Connor 25.06
174 Lorna Smith 26.19
181 John Hanscomb 26.39
MABAC LEAGUE 5 miles Tuesday 1st August on Wimbledon Common
1 D Cairnie (Runnymede) 27.34
95 Simon Burrell 39.27
175 Lorna Smith 46.58
182 Lynne Barber 48.40
183 Hazel Carr 48.40
192 Deborah Blakemore 51.22
195 Pat Hewlett 54.07
197 Bev Ali 55.56
CRYSTAL PALACE CANTER 5km Tuesday 1st August
1 M Humphrey (Belgrave) 16.15
8 Alan Davidson 20.18
9 Yvonne Hill 21.21
KINGFIELD CANTER 2.85 miles handicap Wednesday 2nd August at Woking
Alan Davidson received a special medal in recognition of completing his
200th Kingfield Canter over the nineteen years the monthly event has taken
place.
1 P Godber (Unatt) 24.58 (actual time 20.43)
5 Steve Rowland 26.27 (actual time 18.57)
24 Alan Davidson 27.42 (actual time 18.57)
30 Sonia Rowland 28.11 (actual time 21.56)
MILLAND VALLEY TRAIL RUN 21km Sunday 6th August
1 P Sanger (Epsom & E) 1.22.19
52 Clive Beauvais 1.42.29
191 Sue Ashley 2.09.58
EUROPEAN IRONMAN TRIATHLON CHAMPIONSHIPS Sunday 23rd July at Frankfurt
3.8k swim / 180k bike / 42k run
John Scally reports:
"In the week leading up to race day I got in a recce of the bike course
(quite fast) and a swim in the lake (wet). I was feeling surprisingly calm
come race day despite the fact I discovered that it was the European
championships and that it was to be a non-wetsuit open water swim (the first
ever in Europe).
I queued up with some beautiful looking people on race morning, most
shivering in their Speedos despite the fact it was quite warm. I reached the
water with about 2 minutes to go and finally breathed out. The swim was
slower than usual, after the initial drowning start it seemed the lack of
rubber turned the majority of mid-packers into breastrokers and so I was
caught in a bit of a kick-fest. Hampered at every turn I decided not to
fight my way round and instead to seek clear water where I could, to swim at
my own pace. I had aimed for approximately 80 mins in the swim, so when I
climbed out in 94 I was a bit annoyed, but I felt fresh and so quickly
changed to bike gear and got going.
On the bike I went out fast - the heavens had opened during the transition,
and the mild temperature was better suited for the portly athlete. I
overtook some friends that I was competing with and kept a good speed up for
the first 100k despite taking a tumble on "the hell" (wet cobbles - I may
have said "oh hell" as I went down in front of a cheering German crowd).
In the last 80km the sun came out and it started to get hot. I began to get
a few niggles in the knee I had banged in the fall and I lost some speed as
a result, but my spirits were still high. Rather than get caught up in any
over-the-top Ironman style behaviour I restricted myself to high-fiving
every second person spectating and only showboating in every other village
on the way back to Frankfurt.
I hit the second transition shortly after Cameron Brown had passed on his
way to win in 8h 13m. I changed shoes and put on a very silly looking
Lawrence of Arabia-style hat, before stumbling out for a rather tough
marathon. I realised pretty early on that all 4-hour run plans were out the
window and that although my hydration was OK, I had no energy and anything
other than water was making me rather ill. After about 30k of running,
shuffling, walking and generally muttering in the heat I finally got some
energy in the legs and managed to hold together a 'run 5 walk 1' schedule of
sorts. I ran the last couple of km outright gaining a few positions and
sprinted up the 200m tunnel (It looked shorter the day before).
Support on the course was fantastic, Anna did so much supporting from
different points on on the run course, I think she may have done more
running than I did. I clocked up a finish time of 14hours 23minutes and
14seconds. Ecstatic to cross the line and pleased just to finish".
1 C Brown (New Zealand) 8.13.39
(swim 50.25, bike 4.31.29, run 2.48.17)
1742 John Scally 14.23.14
(swim 94.55, bike 6.33.15, run 5.59.18)
SWISS ALPINE MARATHONS Saturday 29th July
George Coates writes:
"Annie and I competed last weekend in the Swiss Alpine Marathon events in
Davos. Annie did the 78k race (total climb and descent 2,320m) in a time of
10 hrs 43 mins. She was 17th in the W40 category in a finishers' field of
122 women and 812 men. I did the 42k race (climb 1,200m descent 590m) in a
time of 6 hrs 8 mins - my first ever marathon!"
SELF TRANSCENDENCE 2 miles Monday 17th July in Battersea Park
1 R Hughes (TVH) 10.20
24 John Pratt 13.28
FINALLY...
Dave Knight writes:
"Apparently running in packs helps brain development. See
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18925435.000.html. Any volunteers for
a quick brain biopsy after a Sunday run?"